Ultrathin, Now Ultraflat: Ripple-Free Graphene May Hold Key to Material's Mysteries Nov 19, 2009
Once a flat mica terrace has been established, Heinz says, it is no more difficult to prepare graphene on that substrate than on traditional, somewhat rougher substrates such as silicon dioxide. . (Scientific American)
Quartz Crystal Healing Therapy Nov 16, 2009
Quartz is composed of silicon dioxide. Scientists have found that silicon crystals, especially when fused with other elements, have specialized energy transduction properties. (Suite101.com)
New 'FinFETs' Promising For Smaller Transistors, More Powerful Chips Nov 12, 2009
As gate lengths are made smaller than 22 nanometers, the silicon dioxide insulator used in conventional transistors fails to perform properly and is said to "leak" electrical charge. One potential solution to this leaking problem is to replace silicon dioxide with materials that have a higher insulating value, or "dielectric constant," such as hafnium dioxide or aluminum oxide. (Science Daily)
Materials scientists find better model for glass creation Nov 5, 2009
Other than window glass, made from silica or silicon dioxide, Weitz said many sugars are glasses. Honey, for example, is not a glass at room temperature, but as it cools down and solidifies, it becomes a glass. (EurekAlert!)
Interactions Between Massless Particles May Lead To Speedy, Powerful Electronic Devices Oct 16, 2009
Andrei and her group proposed that impurities or irregularities in the thin layer of silicon dioxide underlying the graphene were preventing the scientists from achieving the exacting conditions they needed. Postdoctoral fellow Xu Du and undergraduate student Anthony Barker were able to show that etching out several layers of silicon dioxide below the graphene patches essentially leaves an intact graphene strip suspended in mid-air by the electrodes. (Science Daily)
Key process for space outpost proved on 'vomit comet' ride Sep 25, 2009
Scientists from NASA and Case Western Reserve are designing and testing components of an oxygen generator that would extract the element from silicon dioxide and metal oxides in the ground. They have designed sifters needed to produce a consistent supply of oxides. (EurekAlert!)
Graphene mixes it up with GaAs Sep 18, 2009
Prior to these advances, most graphene research used silicon wafers coated with silicon dioxide, or silicon-on-insulator, which allowed graphene to be imaged. The depositing of graphene on GaAs wafers has lagged due to the difficulty of imaging the results using standard optical microscopy. (EETimes)
Modeling Nano-worlds: Slashing Production Development Time And Costs For Integrated Circuits Sep 1, 2009
For many years, silicon dioxide has been the material of choice in field-effect transistors because of its uniformity and high interface quality. But with the 32nm process, silicon dioxide and related materials, such as nitrided oxides, are reaching their limits and new materials need to be introduced. (Science Daily)
Meteorite mineral made in the lab Aug 12, 2009
The team, led by Thomas Ahrens at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena, recreated early Solar System collisions in the laboratory by launching a bullet down a long gun at two materials - magnesium oxide and silicon dioxide (or quartz). The two materials were embedded in a steel recovery chamber, bolted to the muzzle of the gun. (BBC News -- Science)
New SAFC Hitech(R) Product Roadmap Plots Route for Future Generation Semiconductor Materials Jul 15, 2009
While so-called 'traditional' semiconductor materials, such as the commonly used dielectric silicon dioxide, are still found in high volume applications, the pace and breadth of new materials exploration and adoption beyond these traditional materials is occurring at a rate not seen before in the industry: "Historically, the lifecycle of materials for semiconductors on a per unit process basis extended across multiple technology nodes," continued Irvine. "What we are experiencing now is a... (PR Newswire)
Rice concrete can cut greenhouse emissions Jul 8, 2009
Rice husks form small cases around edible kernels of rice and are rich in silicon dioxide, an essential ingredient in concrete. Scientists have recognized the potential value of rice husks as a building material for decades, but past attempts to burn it produced an ash too contaminated with carbon to be useful as a cement substitute. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Strong Freestanding Nanoparticle Films Created Without Fillers Jun 20, 2009
Traditionally, semiconductor manufacturers have used silicon dioxide for this purpose. As transistors have shrunk, however, they have been forced to make this layer thinner and thinner until they reached the point where electrons leak through and sap the power from the device. (Science Daily)
TSMC devises SRAM cell at 28-nm Jun 19, 2009
TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) recently announced the 28-nm process, which allows an option for silicon dioxide or a high-k/metal-gate scheme for the gate stack. The paper does not appear to discuss high-k. (EETimes)
Tunable Graphene Bandgap Opens The Way To Nanoelectronics And Nanophotonics Jun 16, 2009
Their nano-FET used a silicon substrate as the bottom gate, with a thin insulating layer of silicon dioxide between it and the stacked graphene layers. A transparent layer of aluminum oxide (sapphire) lay over the graphene bilayer; on top of that was the top gate, made of platinum. (Science Daily)
Droplets Manipulated On Nanostructured Silicon Surfaces May 27, 2009
The surface chemistry of silicon nanopillars can be tuned by depositing a layer of some other material, such as silicon dioxide or Teflon-like fluoropolymer, on top of the pillars. A smooth silicon dioxide surface is hydrophilic ... Therefore nanopillars coated with silicon dioxide are extremely hydrophilic, whereas those coated with teflon-like polymer are ultrahydrophobic , the researcher explains. (Science Daily)
How is Glass Made? May 25, 2009
To make glass, people use a basic recipe of sand (silicon dioxide), soda ash (sodium carbonate) and limestone (calcium carbonate). The peoples of ancient Mesopotamia probably inadvertently made glass for the first time when they fired pottery, as the sand and minerals were fused to a glaze on their pieces. (Suite101.com)
Faster computers, electronic devices possible after scientists create large-area graphene on copper May 8, 2009
This is a one centimeter-by-one centimeter graphene film transferred to a silicon wafer with a silicon dioxide top layer. "Graphene could lead to faster computers that use less power, and to other sorts of devices for communications such as very high-frequency (radio-frequency-millimeter wave) devices," said Professor and physical chemist Rod Ruoff, one of the corresponding authors on the Science article. (EurekAlert!)
KFC patrons report they can't use Oprah coupons... May 7, 2009
KFC Grilled Chicken Fresh Chicken Marinated with: Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate Seasoned with: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and Not More Than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and... (The Drudge Report)
TSMC confirms 40-nm yield issues, gives predictions May 2, 2009
The 28-nm process will also include a second gate-stack option, based on more conventional silicon dioxide. As previously reported, TSMC is expected to move into 28-nm production in the first part of 2010. (EETimes)
Diatoms could triple solar cell efficiency Apr 11, 2009
The Oregon engineers fed titanium dioxide to living diatoms so they would build shells from the photovoltaic material instead of silicon dioxide, from which they usually. "We have found that diatoms will readily accept titanium dioxide in place of silicon dioxide if that's all we make available to them," said Rorrer. (EETimes)
Intel Atom: Intel Makes Its Smallest Chip Ever Apr 9, 2009
To ready the chip for mass production, the wafer is blasted with heat and coated with silicon dioxide and light-sensitive photographic film. The masks are then overlaid, with more layers ladled on top, and the whole thing etched, bombarded with chemicals, and covered with layers of metal. (FastCompany)
Carbon Dioxide Forms Polymeric Materials Under High Pressure Apr 5, 2009
In addition, a new -cristobalite-like CO2 as found in silicon dioxide, is predicted to be formed from CO2-III via an intermediate structure at 80 GPa and temperature lower than room temperature. Defects in the crystals increase with temperature and CO2 transforms to an amorphous form when temperature is higher than room temperature, consistent with previous experiments. (Science Daily)
Supercooled Silicon: Liquid-liquid Phase Transition In Silicon Confirmed Mar 23, 2009
7, 2006) Researchers from Japan have developed a clever new technique for the production of silicon dioxide nanocapsules: they start with tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide in a silicon. . (Science Daily)
World's lightest material made into muscle Mar 20, 2009
It is 10 times more airy than the official "Guinness Book of World Records" title-holder an aerogel made from silicon dioxide. The new carbon nanotube aerogel is so light that one piece, spread over an entire acre, would weigh one ounce. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Nanotechnology: Bristly Spheres As Capsules for Drugs Mar 10, 2009
4, 2007) At the University of Minnesota, a team led by Andreas Stein has developed a new process for the production of nanoscopic cubes and spheres of silicon dioxide. The researchers report their trick in. (Science Daily)
New Plasma Transistor Could Create Sharper Displays Feb 18, 2009
The solid-state electron emitter was made from a silicon wafer, topped with a thin layer of silicon dioxide. The microcavity is approximately the diameter of a human hair, and is filled with a small amount of gas. (Science Daily)
